Berkshire Hathaway apt to be one of Goldman’s top investors

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OMAH — Warren Buffett’s company is likely to become one of the biggest shareholders in Goldman Sachs Group later this year, and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. won’t even have to part with any cash to do so.

Berkshire and Goldman said Tuesday that they had renegotiated an agreement giving Berkshire the right to buy 43.5 million shares of the investment bank for $115 per share. Now the 2008 deal will be settled with stock this fall.

Buffett and Goldman’s chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, characterized this new deal as an endorsement of the bank — much as they did when Buffett invested $5 billion in Goldman during the financial crisis.

‘‘We intend to hold a significant investment in Goldman Sachs, a firm that I did my first transaction with more than 50 years ago,’’ Buffett said.

Berkshire is generally known as a passive shareholder that doesn’t interfere with the companies in which it invests. And Buffett’s soft spot for bank investments is clear; Berkshire holds large stakes in Wells Fargo & Co., US Bancorp, Bank of America Corp., and M&T Bank.

A Goldman spokesman, Andrew­ Williams, said that at current share prices the new warrant agreement would put Berkshire in the lower end of the top 10 of Goldman’s biggest shareholders. The number of shares Berkshire will ultimately receive will be determined by Goldman’s stock price this fall.

Investor Andy Kilpatrick, who wrote ‘‘Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett,’’ said the new terms appear beneficial to both companies. Berkshire saves cash as it’s preparing to acquire half of H.J. Heinz Co. in a $23.3 billion deal, and Goldman enjoys Buffett’s backing while issuing fewer shares.

Blankfein said he is pleased that Berkshire plans to remain a long-term investor. Goldman paid Berkshire $5.65 billion in 2011 to repurchase the preferred shares Buffett’s company bought in 2008 during the financial crisis.

Berkshire also got the right to buy the Goldman common shares in the same deal. Originally, Berkshire could buy Goldman stock for $115 per share until this Oct. 1. Now, instead of Berkshire’s paying $5 billion in cash for all 43.5 million shares, Goldman will compensate Berkshire with stock for the difference between its stock price and the exercise price near the original deadline Oct. 1. At Tuesday’s prices, that would give Berkshire about 9 million Goldman shares, or a stake of almost 2 percent.

Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 80 businesses. The conglomerate is based in ­Omaha.

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